Re: 4 Decades Of Lies! (First Post Journal)

I got hit with some shocking news between the 4th and 5th month of my quit. The good news is that I have remained, and will remain nicotine free. 5/24 - During a routine Doctor's visit I mentioned a swollen lymph node on my neck. I had an ultrasound performed on my neck. 6/2 - I was experiencing shortness of breath and had a chest X-Ray performed and a C.T. scan performed to follow up on the ultrasound. 6/3 - The chest x-ray showed my left lung had a tumor and the chest cavity was filling with fluid, the CT scan showed small nodules around my lymph node and thyroid, I was admitted to the hospital. 6/3 , 6/4 - A barrage of addition tests were peformed, they did C.T. scans all over my body looking for any additional spreading of the cancer. The fluid was drained from around my left lung, and a biopsy was permormed on the fluid as well as one of the tumors found in my belly. I remained in the hospital for an additional week while they continued draining fluid from my lung and awaited results from the biopsys. It turned out to be originating in my left lung and had spread to my lymph nodes and stomach. It is non-operable since it has already spread around my body, they called it Stage 4 Lung cancer (non small cell type) 6/11, 6/12 - Had to go back to the hospital, I had sever shortness of breath from my swollen stomach, they took a new CT scan and found the cancer had grown significantly in the 9 days since they last scanned it. They were already mentioning a hospice. 6/13 Recieved my first (very large) dose of chemotherapy and was released to home heath care.Needless to say, there were a lot of emotions and preparations for me to deal with. I wanted to continue to post my experiences in the hopes of helping people on here . We have to always be vigilant and realize the deadlyness of this addiction we are fighting I don't want any of you to experience the feeling I now get when my 9 year old daughter looks to me with all the Love in her eyes's. I have no idea of what the future holds for me, I know because of the great people on this sight that I will face my future as a non-smoker. I thought after all these decades that I actually had the cigarette addiction beat, but it looks like it will win in the long run by taking my life much faster than it should have. I will continue to post as I can.Neal Quit the lies on 1/9/2011